Conventional wisdom and plenty of books tell a story of how the post-World War II years saw a great shift take place in elite higher education: As a result of the G.I. Bill, the civil rights and women's movements, changing demographics, and some forward thinking academic leaders, you no longer needed to have the right ancestors and the right prep school to get into the top universities. Meritocracy emerged as a dominant force.

Portland State University's engineering college has been transformed into "a national and international academic and research institution." The excellence of the college "illustrates how state investments in higher education can increase programmatic capacity." The university's electrical engineering department is so good that it's in a "top 10" listing with such institutions as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Stanford University and the University of California at Berkeley. "We knew PSU engineering was significantly under-ranked. But Top 10? Wow! It made my day. Go PSU!”